Multi-compartmental biomaterial scaffolds for patterning neural tissue organoids in models of neurodevelopment and tissue regeneration

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The compartments of signaling factors that are designed into the synthetic tissue constructs can form concentration gradients as a result of natural diffusion behaviors, and these gradients can control numerous processes like stem cell differentiation, regional identity, axis patterning, and tissue architecture. The ability to replicate natural developmental processes in 3D culture of patient-derived stem cells is essential for creating targeted regeneration of specific areas of the brain and spinal cord. Although there is much we have discovered about how neurodevelopment occurs, there is still much more to learn about all the detailed and complex neurodevelopmental processes that form the vast array of regions, structures, and functions in the brain and spinal cord, and these new tissue designs will help expand our capabilities to study and control these complex processes.

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